I am curious. I want to have a intelligent conversation about this. As most of you probably know, I am not a huge fan of dropping the F-bomb. Just not my favorite word. I don’t use it in the comic, I don’t say it on the radio show, I bleep people who do, etc. It has always smacked of how badly people treat each other generally to me, as its used mostly in a derogatory way.

That’s not to say I judge anyone who enjoys having it in their regular vocabulary arsenal. More power to you…just keep it under control when my kids are around. 🙂

Anyway, the question is this: Why is it that some movies are wall to wall F-bombs? Let’s take a classic like Goodfellas, or Pulp Fiction. Does spattering an array of F words to the tune of hundreds in a film add to the artistic merit, or even financial goal of a film?

I will give you an example. My first viewing of The Big Lobowski happened to be an edited version on cable…but here is the kicker: I had no idea it was edited. They did such a nice job that I literally missed all the cuts and breaks and sound changes that usually accompany badly “edited for TV” fair. I loved the movie, quickly called it one of my favorite Cohen bros. films and moved on.

When I told people I had seen it and loved it, they gaped at me like I was crazy, and said, “how did you get through it with all the F-bombs in it?” I had no idea. Now the question is this: Would the film been any better or worse with or without the heavy swears? I am not pretending to have the answer, but I would like to hear yours. You could apply the same argument to all of the biggest offenders. In other words, I guess what I am asking is, would a guy like Quintin Tarantino be considered the film genius he is without it? Or is that part of what makes the man in some eyes?

And lets face the raw truth…no one would care, be shocked, impressed, or whatever your reaction if the word did not incite just that: a reaction. It’s just that kind of word, pure and simple.

I know there is a whole other argument and conversation that can be made of violence in film, but we will save that for another day. For fun, I found this list of the movies that have used the F-bomb the most in film history. Interesting stats. WARNING: F-bombs are part of the link…durrr.